


Begins Where It Ends

by thealphagate_archivist



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Adult Content, Drama, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-25
Updated: 2010-07-25
Packaged: 2019-02-02 18:01:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12731523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thealphagate_archivist/pseuds/thealphagate_archivist
Summary: Daniel has left the SGC and only one person can talk him into coming back to the Stargate program.





	Begins Where It Ends

**Author's Note:**

> Note from the archivists: this story was originally archived at [The Alpha Gate](https://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Alpha_Gate), a Stargate SG-1 archive, which began migration to the AO3 in 2017 when its hosting software, eFiction, was no longer receiving support. To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in November 2017. We e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are this creator and it hasn't transferred to your AO3 account, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Alpha Gate collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/thealphagate).

Daniel walked into the empty classroom and laid his lecture notes on the podium. Class wasn’t scheduled to start for another half hour so he had plenty of time to scribble a few things on the chalkboard. Pawing through the drawers in the worktable at the front of the room he hunted for a decent sized piece of chalk and began making notes about the day’s lecture.  
“If it isn’t Professor Jackson.” A voice announced from the back of the room.  
Daniel recognized it instantly and spun toward the sound to find Jack standing near the door.  
“Wow. What are you doing here?” He gaped.  
“You never were any good at greetings.” Jack shook his head as he wandered down the aisle.   
“Sorry. Hi, how are you?”  
“Good. You?” Jack replied.  
“What are you doing here?”  
“Came to see what you were up to.” Jack shrugged casting a glance to the few notes on the chalk board. “Never actually seen you with chalk in your hands. It’s usually one of those laser pointer thingies.”  
“Yeah, doesn’t work so well without the slides.” Daniel replied. “Nothing to point at.”  
“Ah. So…finishing a class? Starting a class?” Jack asked, motioning toward the incomplete notes on the chalkboard.  
“Oh, uh, starting…in about half an hour.” Daniel replied. “You’re welcomed to stay.”  
“And hope my snoring doesn’t disrupt your lecturing too much? Uh, no, I think I’ll pass. You know me and briefings.”  
“Yeah.” Daniel briefly chewed his lip. “Are you in town long?”  
“Until tomorrow.”  
“Have time for lunch?”  
“I can do lunch.” Jack nodded.  
“Good.” Daniel smiled. “You can hang out in my office if you want.”  
“I’ll keep myself occupied somehow.” Jack assured him. “Meet you back here at 12:00?”  
“Sounds good.” Daniel nodded. “It’s good to see you, Jack.”  
“You too.” Jack smiled back at him. “I’ll let you get back to your scribbling.” He waggled a finger toward the chalkboard before wandering back out of the room.  
Daniel stood for a moment smiling at the empty doorway and wondering what had brought Jack to Boston out of the blue. He supposed he would have the answer soon enough.

 

Xxxxxxxx

“So how are things at Boston U?” Jack asked as he scanned the menu at a café near the campus.  
“Good.” Daniel nodded. “It feels a little strange to be back in the middle of all of this, but it’s, uh…it’s good.”  
“They let you do any digging?” Jack asked. “I know how you love all that rooting around in the dirt stuff.”  
“Some.” Daniel grinned. “So far just that dig I helped supervise in Uzbekistan over the summer. How are things in DC?”  
“Fine. Good. A little nuts.” Jack admitted.  
“So pretty much the same?”  
“You could say that.”  
“I, uh…I don’t suppose we can really talk about that stuff any more.”  
“We can…if you want. It’s not like we’ve revoked your clearance or anything. You’re just on a sabbatical.”  
“I’m not planning to come back, you know.” Daniel informed him, not for the first time.  
“Actually, Daniel, I don’t know.” Jack said, closing the menu and looking across the table at him. “You wanted a break. You got a break, but this can’t possibly be interesting enough to keep you occupied.”  
“Interesting? No.” Daniel admitted. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it has its moments, but I haven’t been shot at in the past year so that’s a bonus.” He shrugged.  
“Neither have I.” Jack pointed out.  
“That’s different. It’s not like…the people we deal with…” He said, mindful of the fact that they were in a very public place “show up in DC all that often.”  
“They don’t show up in the Mountain all that often either.” Jack pointed out.  
“True.” Daniel admitted, fiddling with his silverware. “Teaching isn’t nearly as interesting as…what I used to do…but it’s what I had intended to do before Catherine found me. Teach a few classes, publish a few papers, maybe a book here and there. Consider it me getting on with my life.”  
“Come on, Daniel.” Jack argued. “That might have been what you wanted before, but I don’t believe for a minute that you’re happy here. I understand. You were burned out. I get it, but the work you used to do is a lot more important than teaching a bunch of freshmen how to use a shovel.”  
“I teach graduate level class, Jack.” Daniel replied, well aware that Jack already knew that.  
“Whatever. The point I’m making here is that you’ve gone from saving the planet’s collective ass to scribbling notes on a chalkboard. You can’t tell me that’s what you really want to do with the rest of your life.”  
“The rest of my life? No, probably not, but at the time I took the job it was exactly what I wanted, Jack. That last mission was just one too many and I needed to do something that had nothing to do with…the usual suspects…for a while. I wanted a normal life. I still do.”  
“And I understand that. Believe me.”  
“But?” Daniel coaxed.  
“But maybe it’s time to re-evaluate things.”  
“Like what things?”  
“Like things I’d rather not talk about here, if you don’t mind.” He admitted. “Let’s just have lunch and we can go over that stuff later.”

Daniel agreed to put the conversation aside, but he spent the entire meal turning it over in his mind. Obviously Jack was reconsidering having let him resign. To be accurate it was Landry that had let him resign, but Jack hadn’t protested. In fact, he hadn’t said much about it at all other than that he understood. Apparently in Jack’s mind the resignation was only temporary, even if in Daniel’s it wasn’t. Not that he was surprised. Jack typically had an agenda and when he set his mind to something he didn’t let minor details get in his way. He wanted what he wanted and he did whatever it took to make it happen. It wasn’t a concept Daniel found particularly troubling. It was just Jack. Sometimes he had a hard time taking “no” for an answer. At times they had that in common. There was certainly no harm in letting him speak his mind about whatever he had come to Boston to tell him. Then Daniel could tell him “no” in person. That would at least buy him another six months or so of peace. 

He hardly expected Jack to drop the subject entirely after making only a single pitch. He supposed the fact that Jack had been gently nudging him over the past six months toward admitting he wasn’t really happy with his career change had made the current conversation inevitable. Daniel had no doubt that once whatever he was cooking up was out on the table it would come up again…and again. Who knows, maybe after a few attempts he would actually be ready to seriously consider it…whatever it was…though he doubted it. His reasons for leaving hadn’t changed.

Daniel had nothing against the SGC or HWS or any of the other acronyms in the alphabet soup that made up National and Global security. Ok, maybe except for the NID. However, he had given a decade to a fight that, when he was honest about it, had never really been his. He’d been sucked into it as an unwitting pawn before finally adopting it as his own. He didn’t regret it. The past 10 years had brought him some of the best times of his life. It had also brought him some of the worst. However, despite the pain and drama…or maybe because of it…he had learned more about himself during his time at the SGC than he had during the first 30 years of his life. Things were radically different from what they had been before Catherine Langford had approached him, but on the whole he believed his life was better because of it.

At the same time, he didn’t regret his decision to close that chapter and do something else. He had been ready to settle into something a lot less perilous and a lot more intriguing when he had signed up to transfer to Atlantis. Obviously that had never happened and he had let himself get sucked back in to SG-1 by Cam’s hyperactive wheedling, not to mention the renewed company of Sam and Teal’c, though even back then he hadn’t been sure it was a good idea. In fact, he had begun to seriously reconsider his decision almost the moment he’d made it, but the fight against the Ori and their shoulder to shoulder relationship with the Ancients had distracted him. 

His calamitous mission on Atlantis with Rodney McKay had shoved the concept right back to the front of his mind. He had honestly thought he was a dead man…again. Lying mortally wounded in a room full of radiation…again. It had taken months of physical therapy to piece himself back together and during that time he’d come to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe he didn’t really need to spend any more time risking his life. After 10 years, hundreds of missions, and countless injuries he had proven he was more than just a geek in a uniform. The regime at the SGC had changed and with it the general attitude toward him. One day he had awakened to find he wasn’t treated like Jack’s trusted sidekick any more. He was valued and respected all on his own. Heaven knew he had earned it. So maybe it was time to stop trying to prove himself and just…be. 

Daniel had gone on a few more missions with SG-1 after recovering from Atlantis intending to end his time at the SGC by exploring a few more planets before he tossed in the towel; to leave things on a positive note…and then P76T59 had happened. In hind sight he should have resigned while he’d still been recovering from Atlantis just to remove the temptation, but he hadn’t; a situation he’d remedied during the repeat performance after P76T59. 

The team had made a very narrow escape from the hands of the locals, once again under the influence of the Ori. As the last man through the gate he had been captured and held prisoner for the better part of two days before a rescue team had found him and brought him home. He had very nearly lost his life on that alien world. Blood loss, broken bones, gashes, bruises, burns, yada yada. Certainly nothing new on the Mission Gone Wrong hit parade. Dr. Lam had put him back together again, but not without throwing around phrases like “almost lost you”, “long, slow recovery ahead of you”, “truly lucky to be alive”. As soon as he had been lucid enough to be taken seriously Daniel had tendered his resignation to take effect the minute he was cleared for duty. At the time his right hand had been broken so the formal letter had had to wait several weeks, but it hadn’t mattered. Every twinge, every ache, every grueling session in the gym had reminded him that it was time to hang up his fatigues and call it done. Being busted up twice in the space of a year had been all the wake-up call he had needed.

Landry had offered to let him keep his position at the SGC. After all, there was a lot more to his job than missions. However, Daniel had thought it a better idea to just make a clean break. He wanted to try life outside the SGC, out in the real world and figured his new found motivation to stay in one piece for an extended period of time would keep him out there long enough to see if he could really stomach life in mundane academia. He didn’t want to find himself on a yo-yo routine of leaving only to come back months later just to remember why he had left in the first place. With Hammond, Landry, and even Jack’s glowing recommendations he had landed a job as a full professor at Boston University teaching graduate level physical anthropology, evolutionary theory, and linguistics. It gave him variety and kept him away from theories of ancient cultures. He couldn’t teach the truth and he wouldn’t teach what he didn’t believe so he had decided to skip the topic altogether. That and it kept him at a distance from his controversial past, something the Dean of Anthropology strongly encouraged.

For the last year teaching had been his life. Lectures, mentoring doctoral candidates, and digs during the summer. It was dull. It was largely uneventful. It held very little excitement and he was perfectly content to leave it that way. At least for the time being. He supposed that when dull lead to boredom and eventually mutated into restlessness he’d have to consider making a change, but for now he was fine with dull. Dull kept him out of trouble. Dull produced far fewer nightmares and his only injuries had been the occasional paper cut.

Daniel showed up that evening at Jack’s hotel near the Common ready to hear whatever he had to say, though not exactly open to accepting the proposal. He wasn’t the adrenaline junkie that Cam and Vala were. He knew how to walk away from pulse pounding insanity and do it without any regrets.   
“Come on in.” Jack said holding open the door.  
“Nice.” Daniel commented, gazing out the window at the view.  
“Want a beer?” Jack motioned to the mini-bar fridge.  
“Sure.” Daniel grabbed one and settled into a chair. “You do realize that getting me drunk isn’t necessarily going to change my mind.”  
“Funny.” Jack smirked, turning off the TV. “So…”  
“So.”  
“Carter says ‘hi’, by the way.”   
“How is she?”  
“Good. Still running the Alpha Site.”  
“How’s that going?”  
“Good.”  
“I don’t hear from her much.”  
“Yeah, well, e-mail doesn’t really reach that far yet.”  
“True.” Daniel nodded. “Heard from Teal’c?”  
“Not in a while. He’s back to working out the kinks in the Jaffa thing.”  
Daniel continued nodding, waiting for Jack to get to the point, but not really minding that he was stalling. He hadn’t seen him in a while. 

Jack was one of the few things Daniel missed about working with the Stargate program, though his transfer to DC had made missing him a reality long before Daniel had resigned. What had once been a long standing habit of seeing each other nearly every day had suddenly become only a handful of visits a year. Daniel didn’t like it, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. Their relationship wasn’t something the Air Force was willing to take into consideration when doling out assignments even if they had known about it. At least the new teaching position had them in the same time zone again. That was something.

It was yet another reason not to go back to the SGC. When Daniel had put in his transfer to Atlantis he had thought he wanted to make a clean break, to put the relationship with Jack in the past and move on. Now he wasn’t so sure. Being together once every three or four months wasn’t ideal, but it was better than nothing and he felt no desire to start looking for something new. Daniel knew what…or rather who…he wanted, it was just harder to manage than it had been once upon a time.

He watched as Jack finally settled into another chair with a beer of his own.  
“So…are you really going to hear what I have to say or are you just humoring me?” Jack asked, taking a drink.  
“Both.” Daniel grinned.  
“I guess I’ll take what I can get.” He said, setting his beer on the table. “I want you to come work for me.” He stated.  
“You what?” Daniel gaped. “Doing what?”  
“At HWS doing pretty much what you’ve always done just without the off world missions.”  
Daniel had to admit, that was the last thing he’d expected to hear.  
“And?”  
“And?” Jack echoed.  
“And this is the part where you tell me a few of those little details you’re so notorious for leaving out just to get someone to take the job.”  
“You know me too well.” Jack smiled.  
“Yes, I do.” Daniel smiled back. “So…?”  
“You’ll be in charge of anything high priority that needs a translation, at this point that is pretty much all things Ancient.” Jack explained. “You’ll be a consultant on treaties with any new allies, not to mention agreements with the group of international idiot politicians.”  
“Odd that they haven’t made you the official liaison for that group.” Daniel quipped.  
“Isn’t it?” Jack replied. “Anyway, you might also end up doing a little recruiting of civilian personnel here and there. I suppose there could be some off world missions, but only if you want them. You can turn anything down at any time no questions asked.”  
“That’s it?” Daniel asked after a pause.  
“Uh, yeah.”  
“All of it?”  
Jack nodded. “So?”  
“So it sounds a bit too good to be true.” Daniel admitted. “Do I get to think about it?”  
“Sure, but I honestly didn’t think you’d have to.”  
“Because I’m so well known for being impulsive and reckless?”  
“No. Because I thought you’d be bored out of your mind by now.”  
“You’re a few years early for that phase.” Daniel replied.  
“Does that mean you’re turning me down?”  
“No, it just means I need to think about it for a while. I was serious when I said I wanted to try having a normal life, Jack.”  
“I know. And I was serious when I said I don’t believe that’s really what you want.”  
“So what do I want?” Daniel asked.  
“To help us take down the Ori, figure out the Ancients, and keep a respectable distance from the infirmary.”  
Daniel smiled.   
“So? No missions. No injuries. No infirmary.” Jack summarized in a sing song tone of voice.  
“Or something like that.” Daniel replied.  
“Not to mention the fact that we’d finally be working in the same place again. Not exactly a minor benefit.” Jack pointed out.   
“True.” Daniel nodded.  
“I’m tempted to be hurt by the lack of enthusiasm.”   
“I love the idea. Don’t get me wrong.” Daniel replied. “There’s just the issue of the Don’t Tell half of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell rule and you living in Spook Central. It would be impossible to be together and keep it off the radar. Especially around people that would love nothing more than to see you replaced at HWS. We’d be trying to carry on a relationship right under their noses.”  
“Ok so we’d have to be careful. I’m not sure what this has to do with whether or not you take the job.”  
“As far as I’m concerned that’s half the offer.” Daniel explained. “Look, Jack, if I’m going to be working with you then I want to have us back. I honestly couldn’t take seeing you all the time and never being able to be with you. I miss us, Jack. I miss what we had.”  
“I know. Me, too.” Jack admitted. “Is that why you left the SGC? You wanted a bit less distance?”  
“No.” Daniel replied. “I wanted a bit less insanity, but if we’re going to put things back the way they were…which is essentially what you’re talking about…then I want that back, too.”  
“There’s only so much I can control, Daniel.”  
“I know.”  
“So if we can’t be us then no deal?”  
“I didn’t say that.”  
“Then what are you saying?”  
“That I’m going to need to think about it for a while.” Daniel repeated. “If we’re not part of the deal then I don’t know that it’s worth leaving what I’ve got. At least here we have privacy when we’re together.”  
“You’re wasting your talents here, Daniel.”  
“Maybe.”  
“No ‘maybe’.” Jack argued. “You’re better than this. You’re settling for far less than you should.”  
“Maybe I am, but I want to have a choice for a while, Jack. I want something that doesn’t require that I follow orders. I like being able to make my own decisions without having to ask permission and without having to conform to someone else’s standards. I like being a civilian.”  
“You were always a civilian. How many times did you get out of being brought up on charges by playing that card?”  
“Ok, so I like finally feeling like one.”  
Jack nodded. “So, how long is ‘a while’?” He asked.  
“I don’t know. Until I figure out whether or not I want to trade what I’ve got for what you’re offering. You’ve got to admit, there are a lot of pros and cons to this idea.”  
“A few.” Jack nodded. “I guess I just assumed your choice to leave the SGC had been about you being sick of putting your life on the line. I thought you’d be a bit more open to the idea of coming back than this.”  
“At the time it was, but being away from the military I realized it was actually about more than that. No NID snooping into my life.”  
“That you know of.”  
“Right.” Daniel grimaced. “No need to explain myself at every turn. No arguing for permission to do what I think needs to be done in spite of military objectives.”  
“That always was a sore spot with you.” Jack smiled.  
“Probably will be a bigger one after spending a year out in the real world.” Daniel admitted.  
“Are you trying to talk me out of this?” Jack teased.  
“No, just giving you fair warning.” Daniel smiled. “If I come back things will be different.”  
“If it means you arguing with me about the best way to handle things then it won’t really be that different.” Jack replied.  
“We’ll see.”  
“Does that mean you’ve made up your mind?”  
“Not even close.”

 

xxxxxxxxxx

Jack woke to the sound of water running in the shower and rolled over to check the clock. Daniel might have had to be up for work, but Jack’s flight didn’t leave for another six hours. He had plenty of time. A gentle knock at the door had him abandoning the thought of going back to sleep.  
“Room service.” A muffle voice announced.   
Jack peered curiously through the peep hole in the door to find a man in a hotel uniform. Apparently Daniel had taken the time to order breakfast before hitting the shower. Jack let the man in as he pulled a robe around himself, watching while a tray of coffee and accessories was settled on the table. Jack signed the check, added a tip and locked the door behind the man as he left.

He poured himself a cup of coffee and turned on the television to check the news. Nothing that directly affected his job ever showed up in the daily barrage of reports on who had done what to whom, but he still liked to keep up with the general planetary chaos. The water turned off in the bathroom and Jack poured a second cup, adding two packets of sugar and a touch of cream just the way Daniel liked it. He glanced back at the television trying not to think about the fact that in six hours he would be headed back to DC and this would be the last time he and Daniel would see each other for at least another few months. He hated the fact that their relationship felt more like an affair than the commitment it really was. He hated the fact that his job was to blame for it.

It had torn them both apart when Jack had been transferred to HWS. At the time his only options had been to either take the job or retire and at that point he hadn’t been ready to retire. That meant a move clear across the country where Daniel couldn’t follow. So he hadn’t really been surprised when Daniel had called to tell him about his application for a transfer off world to Atlantis. Jack couldn’t blame him for wanting to make a clean break, though he wasn’t ashamed to admit he had been thrilled when circumstances had kept Daniel at the SGC. 

At the time the idea to transfer Daniel’s position to HWS hadn’t really occurred to him. In fact, the plan hadn’t been hatched until after Daniel’s last disastrous mission to P whatever the heck it was. Jack had been desperate to get him out of harm’s way after he had been beaten to hell, nearly to death, twice in barely more than a year. It seemed that something in the universe had been conspiring to send him back to Oma and Jack wasn’t about to let that happen. Apparently where Daniel was concerned staying at the SGC and staying in one piece had suddenly become mutually exclusive because for whatever reason, his penchant for disaster had gotten way out of hand. Unfortunately, Daniel had beaten him to the punch by resigning and leaving the Stargate program altogether. Jack couldn’t blame him for that either. He had said he needed a break so Jack had supported the decision and helped him get one. However, enough was enough. He was wasting his talents being a teacher. They needed him at HWS. Jack needed him at HWS. Relationship issues aside, he’d had his break. Now it was time to get back to work.

Of course, the relationship aspect was no small detail. Jack didn’t know exactly what the change in Daniel’s career from teacher back to something more in line with his abilities would mean for them. All he knew was he was sick of the sordid affair they had become. He was sick of missing Daniel. If they couldn’t be together the way they wanted to be then Jack at least wanted to have him around on a regular basis; to be able to see his face more than once every few months. He knew that given the close proximity they would eventually find a way to make it work under the new constraints of the DC environment. After all, desperation was the true mother of invention. Until then Jack was willing to take what he could get. Regular face time was at least a start. Of course, he had to get Daniel to say “yes” first.

The bathroom door opened and Daniel wandered out followed by a plume of steam, bare chested with a towel wrapped around his waist. Jack smiled appreciatively into his mug of coffee.   
“You’re teasing me.” Jack said.  
“Not exactly.” Daniel replied, picking up the waiting mug. “It would be teasing if I headed over to the closet and got dressed.”  
“And I gather that’s not the plan?”  
“Not right away.” Daniel smiled back at him.  
“When’s your class?” Jack asked, putting down his coffee.  
“Tomorrow.” Daniel smirked. “Got a doctoral student to teach today.”  
Jack grinned back at him. “Glad to see you still remember how to be devious and underhanded, Professor Jackson.”

 

xxxxxxxxx

Daniel sat in his office pouring over the latest draft of a dissertation for one of his doctoral candidates. He was advising and mentoring five of them so reading through lengthy drafts was a regular routine. It had been two weeks since Jack’s offer and he had spent some amount of time every day mulling it over. He supposed by that time he should have been able to make up his mind. Heaven knew Jack thought so, but it wasn’t just the immediate future he was thinking about. There were consequences down the road that he needed to consider as well and the more he considered the more confusing the situation became. 

For instance, Jack was probably going to be looking at retirement in the next few years. Technically he could throw in the towel any time he wanted. When that happened Daniel doubted he would stay at HWS if for no other reason than Jack wouldn’t want to settle in DC or Virginia or anywhere else on the coast. It was no secret he was only there for the job. His heart belonged to Minnesota. That would mean Daniel would be giving up his position at Boston University to relocate to DC only to quit a couple of years down the road and most likely go right back to looking for another teaching position. Jack might be ready to take up fishing as a full time career, but he wasn’t. Daniel could certainly afford to retire right along with him, but puttering aimlessly around the back woods of Minnesota wasn’t his idea of a good time.

Boston University had one of the best Anthropology programs in the country. Hoping that a great opportunity like that would present itself again after Jack left HWS was wishful thinking. Daniel wasn’t sure the new job was worth giving up a once in a lifetime position, especially when he would only want it back a few years later. He had freedom here. He could teach what he wanted, set his own schedule, and was still able to keep his hand in the excavation side of Archaeology during dig season. He was respected here. He belonged here even if he didn’t always feel like it. The notion that there was something more important out there would crop up now and then only for him to point out to himself that he’d already been there and done that. He was allowed to move on. He’d done his part.

If waiting out Jack’s retirement was only a matter of a few more years then maybe it was worth it to stay where he was. In reality that’s pretty much what he had been doing already; waiting for Jack. Of course, that didn’t solve the issue of what to do when Jack headed back to Minnesota. Boston wasn’t exactly right next door. Still, after having done a covert long distance relationship for several years maybe commuting from Minnesota to Boston every week would be a reasonable compromise for finally being able to live out in the open, free to admit to anyone he wanted that he was hopelessly in love with Jack. No more hiding. No more pretending. No more living in fear that if they weren’t careful enough the bigotry would hit the fan and land with a gut wrenching splatter all over Jack’s career. If he worked his teaching schedule right maybe they could even end up with three day weekends together, except when he was on a dig. It wouldn’t be perfect, but then nothing was.

It was typically at that point that Daniel became frustrated enough with the concept to push it aside and think about something else. Getting back the convenient situation they’d had in the Mountain obviously wasn’t part of the plan, but attempting to plot out the future several years in advance simply wasn’t possible. Since he couldn’t have what he wanted maybe he should just take what he could get. Besides, what if Jack didn’t retire? What if, heaven forbid, something happened to him…stroke, hit by a bus, whatever…Daniel would be trading what little time they might have together for a dreamed up future that had no guarantee of happening. He knew better than anyone that things happened. Sometimes people died and there was no way to predict who or when. 

It all boiled down to one concept: did he take advantage of the offer while it was still on the table and assume they would work things out one way or another or did he keep what he had and hope having Jack in his life was still an option later? It seemed like an easy decision as long as he didn’t bother with any of the details that went with both scenarios. Neither of them was ideal. At the same time neither of them was out of the question, but both of them required sacrifice on his part. He just wouldn’t know how much sacrifice until he had made his choice and was standing in the middle of it up to his chin. 

Obviously when it came to dealing with the Stargate program at any level, life being complicated and often aggravating was still the case. Daniel put the argument aside one more time and dragged his focus back to the hundred page paper in front of him.

 

Xxxxxxxxx

“Any closer to accepting the offer I went to a lot of trouble to arrange?” Jack wheedled over the phone several days later.  
“I’m sorry, Jack. I know you can’t keep this option open forever…I just…I honestly don’t know what to do.”  
“What are you hung up on?”  
“Everything.” He admitted with a sigh.  
Jack nodded. He’d been patient. In fact, he’d been unusually patient if you asked anyone he typically worked with, but this was Daniel. Where Daniel was concerned he’d learned to be over the years. Jack also knew he was asking a lot of him. Pushing his life aside, as mundane and completely beneath his abilities as it was, was no small thing. Taking this job meant Daniel would be making nearly all the sacrifice in the deal so railroading him into it wasn’t fair. He needed to make the choice on his own or he would end up miserable in the end. He’d seen Daniel miserable…for extended periods of time, in fact…due to the constraints of the Stargate program. He didn’t owe them any more than he’d already given. In fact, he hadn’t even owed them that.

What Jack wanted in the end was for Daniel to be happy. He was almost positive his current job wouldn’t get him there. However, being forced into sacrificing things he didn’t necessarily want to give up wouldn’t get him there either.  
“Ok, so spell it out for me.” Jack shrugged.  
“Are you sure you want to get into this over the phone?”  
“I guess not.” Jack sighed. “I can’t get away at the moment, but why don’t you fly down here this weekend. We’ll consider it a recruitment meeting.”  
“Are you sure?”  
“Nobody’s going to raise any eyebrows if you’re seen skulking around town, trust me. I had to get permission to offer you the position so they’re expecting it.”  
“Alright.” Daniel agreed.  
“Great. I’ll have somebody book a flight. When’s your last class on Friday?”

 

Xxxxxxxxx

 

Daniel stepped off the plane Friday afternoon into the hustle and bustle of Dulles Airport. Following the stream of passengers he wandered toward baggage claim and couldn’t help the grin on his face when he saw Jack. Even after all their years together the sight of him still had the ability to turn a small flock of butterflies loose in his stomach. Dressed in standard issue fatigues rather than his uniform, Jack gave him a brief and socially acceptable hug before ushering him out to the curb where a car and driver waited to take them back to the HWS building, a hand rested casually on his shoulder furthering the illusion that they were old friends reunited after a long separation. The fact that the gentle grip on his shoulder meant something else entirely was far from obvious. They had learned long ago how to disguise love as something much less controversial.

They made idle conversation as the car wound its way through the maze of streets to the gaggle of Federal buildings on the other side of town from the White House. HWS was settled between the GAO and the FBI in a non-descript office building that appeared to be nothing special until you walked through the front doors. Security was just as tight and just as vigilant as what you would find in the FBI or the CIA buildings, though its secrets were much better hidden. In fact, the building wasn’t even listed on the DC map with the other Federal offices. The organization’s name alone raised too many questions so it kept an incredibly low profile. If you didn’t know the acronym then you probably didn’t have the right clearance.

Daniel had never been in the HWS building before so the tour was interesting if unnecessary. However, Jack wanted to keep up the illusion that it really was a recruitment meeting. In reality, Daniel guessed it wasn’t exactly an illusion. After all, Jack was determinedly trying to get him to take the job. The fact that Daniel didn’t care what his office would look like was hardly common knowledge so a tour was at least reasonable. The space was above ground and he would occasionally get to see the sun. That was pretty much all Daniel cared to know. 

The one thing that had actually taken him by surprise was the environment. It might have been military, but the feel was completely different from the SGC. Perhaps it was the lack of a continually implied threat from the Stargate in the basement that made the difference. They had plenty of starch and polish, but no klaxons going off at random intervals. No intercom announcements about off world activations. No easily visible ordinance being carted around. It was much calmer, much quieter.

“So.” Jack said as he closed his office door. “Tell me about these reservations that have had you putting me off for the better part of three weeks.”  
“Are you sure we can talk here?” Daniel asked, undisturbed by the mildly annoyed tone of Jack’s voice.  
“Don’t worry, it’s safe. I have the place swept for bugs every week.” Jack replied, settling into the chair behind his desk.  
“Really?”  
“Can never be too careful with the NID in the neighborhood. Well, not actually ‘in’ the neighborhood. They’re over in Langley.”  
“Right.” Daniel nodded before delving into the list of details that had made it impossible up to that point to make up his mind.   
In short, he loved the idea of being closer to Jack, but didn’t love the idea of giving up a job he might very well want back a few years later. As far as the HWS position itself, he had to admit it was a tempting idea, but at best it was short-term.  
“So basically your reservations are all about what happens next.” Jack summarized.  
“Most of them.” Daniel replied.  
“So without the concept of what to do when I retire and leave this madness to the next guy you would have taken me up on it weeks ago?”  
“That’s entirely possible.”  
“Well at least we’re making progress.” Jack smiled. “What do you need to hear in order to make this a viable option?”  
“That you’ll get Boston to hold my job for a few years while I do this.”  
“Ok, what do you need to hear that I can actually tell you.” Jack replied.  
“That I’ll have some decent career options after you retire and we’re done with spies and inter galactic bad guys.” Daniel said. “I don’t know that I’ll be interested in hanging around here after you go. To be honest, there’s not a whole lot about this stuff that I’ve missed.”  
“I’m guessing the stuff that you have missed would fall under the category of translations and trying to tie the Ancients to Earth history?”  
“For the most part.” Daniel nodded.  
“So stuff you could do basically anywhere and with a lack of military interference.”  
“Yes.”  
“Any reason you wouldn’t be willing to keep doing that after I retired, assuming it doesn’t mean you’re restricted to this building?”  
“No, but the Ancients won’t be an issue forever.”  
“Probably not, but something else will come up. It always does.” Jack shrugged. “As I recall, back in the day we thought the only group we had to worry about was the goa’uld. Hardly ever hear from that group of nut jobs any more.”  
“True. We’re on to bigger and better nut jobs.”  
“Exactly. So…anything else?” Jack asked.  
“Uh, no. I think that’s pretty much it.”  
“Ok. Then let me work on it and we’ll see what I can come up with.”  
“Just like that?”  
“To be perfectly honest, Daniel, nobody wanted to see you leave the SGC. If you’re willing to come back you can pretty much write your own ticket. If we need to redesign then we’ll redesign. If you want to take on more things that have less to do with military concerns then we’ll try to shift things in that direction. The current President happens to be a big fan so at this point you make the demands and as long as they’re reasonable we can probably make it work.”  
“Really?” Daniel gaped.

He was taken completely off guard by the statement. Daniel had never seen himself as a person that had any type of real pull. Sure, he could get a small favor here and there back at the SGC or have Landry or Jack pull strings for him in dire situations, but he had no idea his humble roots in the program had grown to such a weighty influence outside the Mountain. He’d heard the odd compliment here and there, but nothing that had given him any indication that outside the walls of the SGC he was actually appreciated, respected, and valued. In fact, the NID had given him the opposite impression. According to them he was a pest, a nuisance, and an all around pain in the ass. It was mind boggling to say the least.

“At the risk of giving you a swell head…really.” Jack smiled getting up from his desk. “Come on. Let’s call it a day.”  
As was the case with most of the people that worked in DC, Jack commuted from nearby Virginia. Housing was cheaper and the distance offered a small amount of privacy. The driver dropped them off at the house and Jack ushered Daniel inside, grabbing him almost as soon as the front door was closed and kissing him hungrily.   
“Wow.” Daniel replied, half out of breath when Jack finally released his lips long enough for him to speak. “That was um…”  
“Been wanting to do that all day.” Jack admitted.  
“Drawing the blinds in your office might have been a bit too obvious, huh?”  
“Just a bit.” Jack agreed. “And I also wanted to tell you, once I had you up close and personal, that I know this job is asking a lot.”  
“I’m sorry, Jack. I’ve…”  
“Let me finish.” Jack scolded gently. “If this was just about you and me that would be different. I would have been all over you for an answer weeks ago, but it’s not. I understand what this means to you, Daniel. I’m asking you to give up control of your life and come back to deal with the military and I’m well aware what a headache that has always been for you. I know what a big decision this is.” Jack assured him, a hand cupping his face. “If you can’t do it then you can’t do it. We’ll find another way. I want to be with you. I want to see you a lot more often than I do, but before anything else I want you to be happy. After all the crap you’ve had to put up with I think you’ve earned at least that.”  
“So have you, Jack.”   
“Oh, don’t worry about me. I’m finally the Big Cheese. I get to boss people around all day and as a General they have to do what I say. Trust me, I’m happy as a clam…with one glaring exception.”  
Daniel smiled back at him. “Let me guess…I’m the glaring exception?”  
“Still a smart man.” Jack grinned.  
“I only lost a handful of brain cells on my last mission. Most of the time you can’t even tell.” Daniel quipped.  
“Funny. Come on.” Jack said, taking his hand and leading him toward the bedroom.

 

xxxxxxxxxx

Daniel shuffled through security and stepped into the crowded elevator. Unlike his time at the SGC he wasn’t obligated to wear a military uniform. As a civilian consultant he could wear pretty much whatever he wanted…within reason. Dressed in slacks and a button down shirt he headed upstairs to his new office, one that already contained a decent sized collection of his reference books and journals; things that had been shipped over from the SGC. He had had no reason to take them with him when he’d resigned so they had spent the last year and a half in storage somewhere. Of course, even if he had wanted to the Air Force would have refused. It was all classified material documenting classified missions, purchased using departmental funds. In short, they owned it and he would have needed something akin to a Presidential order to have taken it with him. All he could say was it was a good thing he had been in the mood to leave it all behind.

He navigated the barely familiar maze of corridors and stepped into his new office, glancing at the set up. He had a desk with a computer on one wall, a small worktable on another and bookshelves scattered wherever there had been room. He could actually see very little of the walls themselves, but that hardly mattered. He didn’t intend to spend much time contemplating the eggshell white paint. Turning full circle he stared out the window beside his office door. For the first time in his career both inside and outside of academia he had a window. True, it looked out at a maze of cubicles, but it was still a window. He liked the way it made the room feel much less like an oversized walk-in closet, but at the same time it almost gave him the impression of working in a fishbowl, passersby able to gawk at him while he worked. In short, he wasn’t sure whether or not he really liked it, but it was nice to have the option to let in a little extra light or close the blinds and pretend it didn’t exist.

It might have been his first day, but his in-box had already been put to use, piled with folders and envelopes. Daniel hung his coat on the back of his chair, set his satchel on the floor beside his desk and started weeding through his projects. In the blink of an eye time had unwound to his days at the SGC and it was almost like Boston University had never happened. It wasn’t an entirely comforting thought.

Daniel had given Boston several months’ notice that he was leaving. To his surprise the Dean of the department hadn’t been even remotely shocked by the announcement. He had admitted to having a suspicion that Daniel wouldn’t stay on the faculty long. The glowing recommendations by military personnel when he’d applied had made it apparent that having him leave their ranks hadn’t exactly been their idea. It had been the Dean’s opinion that eventually the Air Force would try to lure him back. Daniel had found it odd that everyone seemed to have come to the conclusion that his change of career was temporary. Everyone, but him. 

Of course, if the Air Force had offered HWS as an option years ago he would have skipped the detour to Boston altogether, but they hadn’t. When he’d taken the teaching position he had never imagined the Air Force would make any type of serious bid to get him back. Despite the Dean’s assumptions, Daniel had been fairly certain his resignation had been the end because jumping through hoops for him had never been part of the deal in the past. Maybe his leaving had been the one thing that had finally gotten their attention and inspired a completely unforeseen change of attitude. 

Daniel had butted heads with the military often and in the past they had always left it up to him to change his attitude, change his mind, put his feelings aside, whatever needed to be done to keep the peace between them. They weren’t accustomed to making allowances for individual personnel. The military didn’t make allowances. They gave orders. The one exception had been letting him join SG-1 in the first place. As a result, he had done a majority of the giving in their often mismatched relationship. Daniel was easy going enough that for a very long time it had worked. They made demands and he did whatever was necessary to make the terms acceptable in his own mind. Lots of things had not sat well with him over the years, but the general rule of thumb had always been the same: go with the flow or leave. His fear of being tossed out on his ass before he had done right by Shau’ri and her memory had kept him from making very many waves even when he had strongly objected to things. He’d been ready to throw in the towel, struggling under growing feelings of resentment and frustration when he had ascended. The sudden change of scenery had altered his perspective and bought him a few more years of one sided concessions, but as it turned out even that had been a temporary fix. 

Jack had been the final straw. Daniel hadn’t realized just how far Jack’s presence had gone to making the sometimes intolerable situation bearable. Their relationship had given Jack an added insight into Daniel’s frustrations and he’d done what he could when he could to provide at least a small buffer. When Jack had left that buffer had been gone with him and Daniel had been back to living by military rules and attitudes that he often disagreed with. 

Being torn to pieces on the last mission had finally put the whole mess in perspective. He could patch things up and continually make adjustments, focusing on something else, anything else to avoid confronting the fact that he was unhappy, but in the end he was left with the same old conundrum. He wasn’t military. His priorities weren’t military. His belief in fair play and doing the right thing simply because it was the right thing certainly wasn’t military. He could keep denying his feelings and letting them force him into betraying his ideals or he could take a stand. With nothing left to lose he had decided to take that stand. Finally.

Now here he was jumping right back into the bog of rules and regulations. It hadn’t escaped him that expecting things to turn out differently the second time around was unrealistic. He was aware that it wouldn’t take very long before he was once again butting heads with the military and the various committees and organizations that went along with it. Now that he was working for Jack his buffer had returned, but he didn’t really expect things to turn out any differently in the end. Of course, it hadn’t been the Air Force that had worked to get him back. It had been Jack. Daniel hadn’t sacrificed his position at Boston University for the sake of making a second run at military relations. He hadn’t given up teaching with the idea in mind that he would finally get the Air Force to see things his way since they apparently adored him…or something. He had walked away from Boston for Jack. It was that simple. 

He found it amusing that suddenly the situation was reversed. Everyone had assumed his stint in academia was temporary until he got his head together. He had assumed it wasn’t. Now everyone was assuming he was going to have a long and fulfilling career working with HWS, the SGC, the Atlantis project and whatever else cropped up over the years. Daniel was assuming he wouldn’t. He would stay to be close to Jack. He would put up with whatever he had to put up with in order to get rid of the daily ache of missing him. He would grind his teeth and deal with military protocol for only as long as he absolutely had to. And when Jack retired he would wave good-bye to HWS and all its accoutrements and never look back.

A lot of things had changed for him over the course of his accidental career at the SGC, but the notion that he was replaceable had not. He would contribute what he could and then, as Jack said, “leave this madness to the next guy” and they would muddle along just fine without him. However, for the moment he apparently had a ton of work to do and a briefing to sit in on in an hour.

It was good to be back…sort of.


End file.
